Auch so funktioniert es leider nicht:
SELECT
a.articleID,
a.articleTextFull,
b.userAlias AS articleAuthor,
d.elementName AS articleCategory
FROM articles AS a
INNER JOIN user AS b
ON (a.articleAuthor = b.userID)
LEFT JOIN relation AS c
ON (a.articleID = c.relationLink)
LEFT JOIN elements AS d
ON (c.elementID = d.elementID)
WHERE ((c.relationType = 'article') OR (c.relationType IS NULL))
AND ((d.elementType = 'category') OR (d.elementType IS NULL))
AND (a.articleID = '2')